The Proletarian Presidents: The Graphical History of a Socialist America
- Thread starter ETGalaxy
- Start date
Unless Japan is deadass about Asia for Asians in this TL, I don't expect them to come out of the 20th all rosy.
It's an America/world that's both very different from OTL and eerily similar. A socialist America conservatives could learn to love and socialists could come to hate.
Basically me reading this TL and looking at that map.
This all makes me want a beer...I mean a root beer...please don't report me for counter-revolutionary thought.
Basically me reading this TL and looking at that map.
This all makes me want a beer...I mean a root beer...please don't report me for counter-revolutionary thought.
Don't worry, if there's one thing socialists love it's getting drunk. Marx had his brandy, and vodka goes without saying.
Aw geez, thank you very much, that's very kind of you!
Something I wanted to go for going into this TL is to create a world that's a bit more nuanced than a straight dystopia or utopia, so I'm happy to hear this reaction! Don't get me wrong, if you're a socialist, there's a lot to like about this world compared to OTL, at least when looking at the West. Industrial democracy is the norm for a lot of the world, America ended segregation about sixty years earlier, the LGBTQ rights, civil rights, and feminist movements are all decades ahead of where they were in the 1960s of OTL, the standard of living for the average person living in the socialist world's standard of living is higher and they'd have a more secure life than in their countries' OTL equivalents, and the legacy of imperialism is much more aggressively killed off than OTL due to the Cooperative Commonwealth actively taking efforts to undo the consequences of American interventionism in Latin America prior to the 1905 Revolution and fighting against the dominant European colonial empires in the Global War in the 1950s and considering decolonization a key goal of the conflict. On the flip side, however, this is a world where a right-wing authoritarian Empire of Japan, while not as violent as its OTL counterpart, is a global superpower with a tight grip on East Asia, Russia is a backwater authoritarian regime recovering from a civil war in the 1950s, which was much more bloody than the OTL Russian Civil War, and a warlord period right before that, the reconstruction of Germany after the Global War is much more messy and sparks greater local opposition than denazification in OTL (in turn resulting in a reactionary terrorist insurgency), authoritarianism is a mainstream political stance to take in the West, and Central Africa's been stuck in a warring states period since the early 1960s. I think whether or not TPP is a better or worse universe than OTL depends a lot on your own personal politics, but I never wanted this to be a very black and white scenario.It's an America/world that's both very different from OTL and eerily similar. A socialist America conservatives could learn to love and socialists could come to hate.
Basically me reading this TL and looking at that map.
As for this being an America that conservatives could like, I definitely think that's true to an extent. On the one hand, if you're big on fiscal conservatism, the Cooperative Commonwealth probably is unacceptable no matter what (at the end of the day, it's a socialist republic where the means of production are governed by workers' councils and central economic planning is the norm, and private capitalist enterprise isn't ever coming back to America ITTL), and, as I previously mentioned, a lot of social issues are decades ahead of where they would've been in OTL's 1960s, particularly with regards to race and LGBTQ rights. That being said, if you're big on social conservatism, this is absolutely an America where you could accomplish a lot of your agenda, and Wallace is a good example of that. At the end of the day, the Cooperative Commonwealth of America is still, ya know, America, at the Second Revolution didn't single-handedly magically eliminate American social conservatism overnight, social conservatism just adapted to the new socialist system and political culture.
Very good, comrade! The Bureau of Prohibition would like to remind all patriotic Americans that our country is free from the influence of intoxication under the Kaiser's Poison, and that the responsible American workingman drinks a delicious can of root beer to keep his mind and body healthy! And remember, if a counterrevolutionary tries to pressure you into drinking alcohol, just say no!
Socialists? Getting drunk? No no no, here in the Cooperative Commonwealth, we've freed the working class from intoxication and have recognized alcohol for the vile drug used by the bourgeoisie to keep the proletariat in line that it is! A real American socialist treats themselves to a refreshing soft drink! And whatever does vodka have to do with socialism? Isn't that what those damn liberal Ruskies drink away the sorrows of capitalist tyranny with?
Nope, not at all. My hope is to continue this TL at least until the present day. After that, IDK, we'll see. I'd at least like to make an infobox for the Cooperative Commonwealth in the present day, but I'd be down to do a "world tour" of sorts and have some infoboxes for other countries of note once I hit the 2020s as well if others are interested.
I guess Haywood's a one termer defeated by Noam Chomsky in 1977? Quite unfortunate that Lyndon LaRouche manages to get elected President sometime in the 1990s. Also don't think I didn't notice Dick Nixon as George Wallace's Director of the Bureau of Investigation and Security (BIS, alternate FBI). Crazy to think of him as an ally of President Wallace. So I guess it's safe to assume that he got the job as a BIS (FBI) field agent in 1938 when he applied? Is there any specific reasoning for his acceptance ITTL compared to IOTL?
What if Dorothy Day managed to become the first President of the Cooperative Commonwealth to serve non-consecutive terms by getting elected in the 1969 presidential election over incumbent D.C.P. President George Wallace? What policies would she impose on the CCA and would she run for re-election in 1973? Would Noam Chomsky be her successor in 1977 or someone else entirely?
Haywood will be a one-termer, but Chomsky won't be elected president until 1981.
Yep, Director Dick Nixon's a hardline cold warrior (great struggler?) from the very start of his career and consistently promotes closely monitoring and investigating suspected counterrevolutionary activities domestically, oftentimes through shady and less than legal means. Nixon's particularly infamous for directing the BIS to bug the offices and homes of suspects, for example. Nixon's hardline anti-counterrevolutionary stance, belief that the federal government must crack down harder on drug usage and distribution, and his support for stronger and more authoritarian executive authority to accomplish these priorities make him a natural ally of the Wallace administration.
As for how Nixon got into the BIS, yes, he became a field agent in the late 1930s, roughly around the same time he applied in OTL. As it turns out, the main reason he wasn't accepted in OTL was because the FBI was short on funding for hiring new staff, so I'd just assume that they're either not short on funding at that particular moment or, through the luck of the draw, Nixon gets hired instead of someone else.
Well, Wallace was particularly popular going into 1969 due to his handling of the War on Counterrevolution and strong economic growth during his first term in office, so realistically, Day didn't have much of a chance of defeating him, but assuming the war in Germany went downhill earlier or something and Day wins the presidency, her main priorities in 1969 were a withdrawal from Germany, overturning a number of Wallace's more socially conservative policies, de-escalating the Second Great Struggle, promoting nuclear disarmament, investing in marginalized communities, and a return to the anarcho-syndicalist economics of her and Parsons' administrations, where centralized planning will largely be shunned in favor of establishing worker self-managed public works programs. How much of that she accomplishes depends on how much support she'd have in Congress, but broadly speaking, you'd see a repeal of a lot of Wallace's agenda and a pivot to a much less hawkish foreign policy. She'd be on the older side in 1973, so there's a good chance she'd forego running for a third full term. IDK who her successor would be, but odds are, it's not someone from the SLP, like Chomsky.
Ya know, at one point I actually considered having German-Americans in Wisconsin organize a minor party that advocates for German-American rights but is generally a single issue anti-prohibition party. I don't think I'll go with that anymore, but I will say that Wisconsin is one of the few places where you still hear a lot of grumblings about prohibition, and the Wisconsinite wing of the SLP is unique for having a significant and influential faction in favor of outright alcohol decriminalization, an increasingly fringe policy position otherwise rejected by the vast majority of the country. I do also like the idea that organized crime, at least with regards to the sale and manufacture of liquor, ITTL is concentrated in Milwaukee and the city's associated with organized crime much more so than Chicago or New York. Rural bootleggers are also fairly prevalent in rural Wisconsin in particular.
I thought it was mentioned that Chomsky gave former President Roger Nash Baldwin a medal in 1980, wouldn't that mean that he would have to be elected in 1977, not 1981?
Chomsky being president in 1980 has since been retconned, although Baldwin's infobox hasn't been updated to reflect that.
Oh okay.👍
I can't wait to see the full list of presidents up to the modern day!
What is the state of illegal alcohol bootlegging?Aw geez, thank you very much, that's very kind of you!
Something I wanted to go for going into this TL is to create a world that's a bit more nuanced than a straight dystopia or utopia, so I'm happy to hear this reaction! Don't get me wrong, if you're a socialist, there's a lot to like about this world compared to OTL, at least when looking at the West. Industrial democracy is the norm for a lot of the world, America ended segregation about sixty years earlier, the LGBTQ rights, civil rights, and feminist movements are all decades ahead of where they were in the 1960s of OTL, the standard of living for the average person living in the socialist world's standard of living is higher and they'd have a more secure life than in their countries' OTL equivalents, and the legacy of imperialism is much more aggressively killed off than OTL due to the Cooperative Commonwealth actively taking efforts to undo the consequences of American interventionism in Latin America prior to the 1905 Revolution and fighting against the dominant European colonial empires in the Global War in the 1950s and considering decolonization a key goal of the conflict. On the flip side, however, this is a world where a right-wing authoritarian Empire of Japan, while not as violent as its OTL counterpart, is a global superpower with a tight grip on East Asia, Russia is a backwater authoritarian regime recovering from a civil war in the 1950s, which was much more bloody than the OTL Russian Civil War, and a warlord period right before that, the reconstruction of Germany after the Global War is much more messy and sparks greater local opposition than denazification in OTL (in turn resulting in a reactionary terrorist insurgency), authoritarianism is a mainstream political stance to take in the West, and Central Africa's been stuck in a warring states period since the early 1960s. I think whether or not TPP is a better or worse universe than OTL depends a lot on your own personal politics, but I never wanted this to be a very black and white scenario.
As for this being an America that conservatives could like, I definitely think that's true to an extent. On the one hand, if you're big on fiscal conservatism, the Cooperative Commonwealth probably is unacceptable no matter what (at the end of the day, it's a socialist republic where the means of production are governed by workers' councils and central economic planning is the norm, and private capitalist enterprise isn't ever coming back to America ITTL), and, as I previously mentioned, a lot of social issues are decades ahead of where they would've been in OTL's 1960s, particularly with regards to race and LGBTQ rights. That being said, if you're big on social conservatism, this is absolutely an America where you could accomplish a lot of your agenda, and Wallace is a good example of that. At the end of the day, the Cooperative Commonwealth of America is still, ya know, America, at the Second Revolution didn't single-handedly magically eliminate American social conservatism overnight, social conservatism just adapted to the new socialist system and political culture.
Very good, comrade! The Bureau of Prohibition would like to remind all patriotic Americans that our country is free from the influence of intoxication under the Kaiser's Poison, and that the responsible American workingman drinks a delicious can of root beer to keep his mind and body healthy! And remember, if a counterrevolutionary tries to pressure you into drinking alcohol, just say no!
Socialists? Getting drunk? No no no, here in the Cooperative Commonwealth, we've freed the working class from intoxication and have recognized alcohol for the vile drug used by the bourgeoisie to keep the proletariat in line that it is! A real American socialist treats themselves to a refreshing soft drink! And whatever does vodka have to do with socialism? Isn't that what those damn liberal Ruskies drink away the sorrows of capitalist tyranny with?
Nope, not at all. My hope is to continue this TL at least until the present day. After that, IDK, we'll see. I'd at least like to make an infobox for the Cooperative Commonwealth in the present day, but I'd be down to do a "world tour" of sorts and have some infoboxes for other countries of note once I hit the 2020s as well if others are interested.
Regardless of your intentions, Texas is indeed the state of bootlegging. So.